A company says its enzymatic depolymerization technology can be applied to opaque PET containers, and a startup targeting ABS and PLA will compete for a major prize. 3-D printer filament: ReDeTec, a startup that makes at-home equipment to recycle ABS and PLA into 3-D printer filament, is one of three finalists in the 2017 Extreme Tech Challenge, MaiTai Global announced...

An Indian teenager begins collecting e-scrap after becoming sick from a nearby burning site, and collection programs get off the ground in the nations of Georgia and Kenya.Kenya: An e-scrap collection center will be established in the North Rift region of Kenya, a country that has more than 20 million electronic device users, BiztechAfrica reports. The center will be established...

Farmers join the fight to allow consumers to repair electronics, and a lack of available recycling options leads to the dumping of CRT televisions along roadways in one state.Free recycling: A North Carolina environmental protection group subsidized an e-scrap collection program in a county that has struggled to recycle electronics due to the cost. According to the local Citizen-Times newspaper, more...

New York City shoppers will be hit with a new bag fee, and the U.K.'s carpet diversion rate continues to rise. Creative currency: High school students in Kentucky have invented a machine that accepts plastic bottles as payment to charge portable devices. Local ABC affiliate WKRC profiled the students' project, which was an effort to encourage recycling while adding electrical...

Nebraska awards nearly $2.5 million for recycling, outreach and litter cleanup projects, and applications are now being accepted for public bins for parks. Cornhusker State grants: The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality awarded nearly $2.5 million in recycling-related grants. Of the total, 53 percent went to recycling efforts, 42 percent to public education (this includes programs that promote markets for...

A London initiative will target the collection of single-use coffee cups for recycling, and carpet diversion continues its rise throughout the United Kingdom. 'Brexit' and EU law: Despite its planned exit from the European Union, the British government expects waste legislation under consideration by the European Parliament would still apply to the U.K., reports Resource Media. The legislative package includes...

An initiative emphasizes the job creation that recycling can bring, and a San Antonio facility is again ordered to vacate its premises due to alleged violations. Rollout hang-ups: An alley collection program in St. Paul, Minn. experienced some service problems during its first week, according to the Pioneer Press. In some cases, pickup for recyclable materials was delayed due to icy...

Recycling efforts by a non-governmental organization in Mumbai are seeing some success, and experts point to consumers as the culprit for Singapore's low recycling rates.United Arab Emirates: The Middle East country will begin using an e-scrap collection bin aimed at efficiency in 2020, according to Al Bawaba News. Designed by Baharash Architecture, the e-Bin will use solar energy to power...

A Los Angeles-based processor that hires formerly incarcerated people grabs attention, and Samsung explains what exactly caused its flagship mobile device to overheat.Dual defects: An internal investigation by Samsung has revealed two causes of the high-profile overheating problems that plagued the company's Galaxy Note 7. CNET reports that the first battery had too small of a casing, causing the mobile devices...

Safeway allegedly violates a beverage container law, and an airline boosts plastics diversion by utilizing blankets made from post-consumer PET. United Arab Emirates: UAE-based airline company Emirates will offer blankets made from recycled PET bottles, Recycling International reports. Each blanket is made from 28 discarded plastic bottles, and by the end of 2019 the airline estimates some 88 million PET bottles...